Certified Reference Material recipe challenge

Abstract

We would like to invite you to participate in the Ana-lytical Challenge, a series of puzzles to entertain andchallenge our readers. This special feature of “Ana-lytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry” has establisheditself as a truly unique quiz series, with a new scien-tific puzzle published every other month. Readers canaccess the complete collection of published problemswith their solutions on the ABC homepage athttp://www.springer.com/abc. Test your knowledgeand tease your wits in diverse areas of analyticaland bioanalytical chemistry by viewing thiscollection.In the present challenge, Certified Reference Mate-rials are the topic. And please note that there is aprize to be won (a Springer book of your choice upto a value of €100). Please read on…Meet the Certified Reference Material recipe challengeChemistry, biochemistry, and cooking go hand in hand.For example, yeast in the presence of sugar, moisture,and gentle heat will release carbon dioxide and alcohol.When yeast is used in bread making, the carbon dioxidecauses the dough to rise and the alcohol contributes tothe flavor of the bread. There are also factors that inhibitthe reaction. If, for example, the temperature is too lowduring the proofing and rising steps, the yeast willremain dormant. If the temperature is too high, the yeastwill be killed. At either extreme, the dough fails to rise.Salt can be used to slow the formation of carbon diox-ide, whereas sugar can speed it up. The Maillard reactionof denatured proteins with sugars also plays an importantrole in the aroma and flavor of foods from bread to beef.With a little chemical knowledge, the reaction can beused to maximize the flavor of cooked foods.It is no secret that the quality of the ingredients used incooking plays a significant role in the flavor of the food aswell as the nutritional benefits. But how does a laboratorydemonstrate the quality of a food? The measurement ofvitamins, elements, fatty acids, contaminants, and volatileflavor components in complex food matrices presents sig-nificant analytical challenges.The issue of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry inwhich this challenge is published is related to the analysisof foods and dietary supplements, an area in which qualityis also an important theme. Certified Reference Materials(CRMs) are essential tools for the quantitative determina-tion of analytes in foods and dietary supplements. Samplepreparation and complete analyte extraction are often themost challenging steps in the analysis; thus, it is essentialto have well-matched matrix-based CRMs for use as qual-ity control materials and method development tools. Asdescribed by Phillips et al. [1], AOAC International hasdeveloped a food triangle with 100 % fat, 100 % protein,and 100 % carbohydrate as the apices. The NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology has worked to fillin the different sectors of the triangle with Standard Ref-erence Materials derived from foods to represent differentanalytical challenges associated with food analysis. Othergovernmental national metrology institutes, members ofprivate industry, and nonprofit foundations have createdadditional CRMs for community use.